.

2012

Enterprise Resource Planning & HRM

This document explains ERP, Its characteristics, its implementation in life cycle & Human Resource Management

Nainita Ghag 11030141047 3/19/2012

Contents
Enterprise Resource Planning ....................................................................................................................... 3 Characteristics of ERP ............................................................................................................................... 4 Why is ERP required? ................................................................................................................................ 4 ERP Implementation Life Cycle ................................................................................................................. 5 Human resource management ..................................................................................................................... 8 How does HRM fit in the business life cycle? ........................................................................................ 12 Which modules does HRM talk to? ........................................................................................................ 17 What is the data that is interfaced? ......................................................................................................... 18 What is the corresponding module in SAP? ........................................................................................... 19 ORGANIZATONAL KEY IN AUTHORIZATIONS ............................................................................ 22 TRANSITION OF DATA TO INTELLIGENT DATA ......................................................................... 23 LOGICAL DATABASES ...................................................................................................................... 24 PROJECT SCOPING.............................................................................................................................. 25 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 26

Enterprise Resource Planning

ERP (enterprise resource planning) is an industry term for the broad set of activities that helps a business manage the important parts of its business. The information made available through an ERP system provides visibility for key performance indicators (KPIs) required for meeting corporate objectives. ERP software applications can be used to manage product planning, parts purchasing, inventories, interacting with suppliers, providing customer service, and tracking orders,etc. The deployment of an ERP system can involve considerable business process analysis, employee retraining, and new work procedures. ERP software integrates all facets of an operation, including development, manufacturing, sales and marketing. ERP software consists of many enterprise software modules that an enterprise would purchase, based on what best meets its specific needs and technical capabilities. Each ERP module is focused on one area of business processes, such as product development or marketing. Some of the more common ERP modules include those for product planning, material purchasing, inventory control, distribution, accounting, marketing, finance and HR.

Characteristics of ERP
Packaged software. Integrate the majority of a businesss processes. Process the majority of an organizations transactions. Use a data warehouse. Allow access to data in real time. Integrate transaction processing and planning activities. An integrated system that operates in real time (or next to real time), without relying on periodic updates. A common database, which supports all applications. A consistent look and feel throughout each module. Installation of the system without elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department.

Why is ERP required?

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integrate internal and external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application. Their purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders.

ERP Implementation Life Cycle

THE process of ERP implementation is referred as d as "ERP Implementation Life Cycle". The following are the steps involved in completing the lifecycle. Shortlist on the basis of observation Selecting an ERP package for the company can nevertheless be compared with the process of "Selecting the right Person for the Right Job". This exercise will involve choosing few applications suitable for the company from the whole many.

Assessing the chosen packages A team of Experts with specialized knowledge in their respective field will be asked to make the study on the basis of various parameters. Each expert will not only test and certify if the package is apt for the range of application in their field but also confirm the level of coordination that the software will help to achieve in working with other departments. In simple terms they will verify

if the synergy of the various departments due to the advent of ERP will lead to an increased output. A choice is to be made from ERP implementation models.

Preparing for the venture This stage is aimed at defining the implementation of ERP in all measures. It will lay down the stipulations and criteria to be met. A team of officers will take care of this, who will report to the person of the highest hierarchy in the organization.

Gap Analysis This stage helps the company to identify the gaps that has to be bridged, so that the company practice becomes akin to ERP environment. This has been reported as an expensive procedure but it is inevitable. The conglomerate will decide to restructure the business or make any other alterations as suggested by GAP analysis in order to make ERP user friendly. A choice is to be made from ERP implementation models.

Business process reengineering Changes in employee rolls, business process and technical details find place in this phase of restructuring most popularly referred as business process engineering. For more details on BPR click here.

Designing the System This step requires lot of meticulous planning and deliberate action. This step helps to decide and conclude the areas where restructuring have to be carried on. A choice is to be made from ERP implementation models.

In-house Guidance This is regarded as a very important step in ERP implementation. The employees in the company are trained to face crisis and make minor corrections as well because the company can neither be at liberty nor afford the bounty to avail the services of an ERP vendor at all times.

Checking

This stage observes and tests the authenticity of the use. The system is subjected to the wildest tests possible so that it ensures proper usage and justifies the costs incurred. This is seen as a test for ERP implementation.

Preparing the employees to use ERP The employees in the organization will be taught to make use of the system in the day to day and regular basis so as to make sure that it becomes a part of the system in the organization.

Post Implementation The process of implementation will find meaning only when there is regular follow up and proper instruction flow thereafter and through the lifetime of ERP. This will include all efforts and steps taken to update and attain better benefits once the system is implemented. Hence an organization has to perform ERP implementation safely and correctly.

Errors in ERP implementation ERP implementation failure is a major concern for companies. ERP implementation needs to be done without allowing any scope for limitations and mistakes. If it is not done perfectly then the success of ERP system will remain a question mark. The first and foremost factor that discourages ERP in an organization is the exorbitant costs and investment. The second one is the drafting of an ERP implementation plan to ensure ERP implementation success.

Human resource management

Human resource management is the management of an organization's workforce, or human resources. It is responsible for the attraction, selection, training, assessment, and rewarding of employees, while also overseeing organizational leadership and culture, and ensuring compliance with employment and labor laws. In circumstances where employees desire and are legally authorized to hold a collective bargaining agreement, HR will typically also serve as the company's primary liaison with the employees' representatives.

HR is a product of the human relations movement of the early 20th century, when researchers began documenting ways of creating business value through the strategic management of the workforce. The function was initially dominated by transactional work such as payroll and benefits administration, but due to globalization, company consolidation, technological advancement, and further research, HR now focuses on strategic initiatives like mergers and acquisitions, talent management, succession planning, industrial and labor relations, and diversity and inclusion. In startup companies, HR's duties may be performed by a handful of trained professionals or even by non-HR personnel. In larger companies, an entire functional group is typically dedicated to the discipline, with staff specializing in various HR tasks and functional leadership engaging in strategic decision making across the business. To train practitioners for the profession, institutions of higher education, professional associations, and companies themselves have created programs of study dedicated explicitly to the duties of the function. Academic and practitioner organizations likewise seek to engage and further the field of HR, as evidenced by several field-specific publications.

In practice, HR is responsible for employee experience during the entire employment lifecycle. It is first charged with attracting the right employees through employer branding. It then must select the right employees through the recruitment process. HR then onboards new hires and oversees their training and development during their tenure with the organization. HR assesses talent through use of performance appraisals and then rewards them accordingly. In fulfillment of the latter, HR may sometimes administer payroll and employee benefits, although such activities are more and more being outsourced, with HR playing a more strategic role. At the macro-level, HR is in charge of overseeing organizational leadership and culture. HR also ensures compliance with employment and labor laws, which differ by geography, and often oversees health, safety, and security. In circumstances where employees desire and are legally authorized to hold a collective bargaining agreement, HR will typically also serve as the company's primary liaison with the employees' representatives (usually a labor union). Consequently, HR, usually through industry representatives, engages in lobbying efforts with governmental agencies (e.g., in the United States, the United States Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board) to further its priorities. The discipline may also engage in mobility management, especially pertaining to expatriates; and it is frequently involved in the merger and acquisition process. HR is generally viewed as a support function to the business, helping to minimize costs and reduce risk. Human Resource Management: Evolution The early part of the century saw a concern for improved efficiency through careful design of work. During the middle part of the century emphasis shifted to the employee's productivity. Recent decades have focused on increased concern for the quality of working life, total quality management and worker's participation in management. These three phases may be termed as welfare, development and empowerment. Human Resource Management: Nature Human Resource Management is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each are met. The various features of HRM include: It is pervasive in nature as it is present in all enterprises. Its focus is on results rather than on rules. It tries to help employees develop their potential fully. It encourages employees to give their best to the organization. It is all about people at work, both as individuals and groups. It tries to put people on assigned jobs in order to produce good results. It helps an organization meet its goals in the future by providing for competent and wellmotivated employees. It tries to build and maintain cordial relations between people working at various levels in the organization. It is a multidisciplinary activity, utilizing knowledge and inputs drawn from psychology, economics, etc.

Human Resource Management: Scope The scope of HRM is very wide: 1. Personnel aspect-This is concerned with manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement, transfer, promotion, training and development, layoff and retrenchment, remuneration, incentives, productivity etc. 2. Welfare aspect-It deals with working conditions and amenities such as canteens, creches, rest and lunch rooms, housing, transport, medical assistance, education, health and safety, recreation facilities, etc. 3. Industrial relations aspect-This covers union-management relations, joint consultation, collective bargaining, grievance and disciplinary procedures, settlement of disputes, etc. Human Resource Management: Beliefs The Human Resource Management philosophy is based on the following beliefs: Human resource is the most important asset in the organization and can be developed and increased to an unlimited extent. A healthy climate with values of openness, enthusiasm, trust, mutuality and collaboration is essential for developing human resource. HRM can be planned and monitored in ways that are beneficial both to the individuals and the organization. Employees feel committed to their work and the organization, if the organization perpetuates a feeling of belongingness. Employees feel highly motivated if the organization provides for satisfaction of their basic and higher level needs. Employee commitment is increased with the opportunity to discover and use one's capabilities and potential in one's work. It is every manager's responsibility to ensure the development and utilisation of the capabilities of subordinates. Human Resource Management: Objectives To help the organization reach its goals. To ensure effective utilization and maximum development of human resources. To ensure respect for human beings. To identify and satisfy the needs of individuals. To ensure reconciliation of individual goals with those of the organization. To achieve and maintain high morale among employees. To provide the organization with well-trained and well-motivated employees. To increase to the fullest the employee's job satisfaction and self-actualization. To develop and maintain a quality of work life. To be ethically and socially responsive to the needs of society. To develop overall personality of each employee in its multidimensional aspect. To enhance employee's capabilities to perform the present job. To equip the employees with precision and clarity in transaction of business. To inculcate the sense of team spirit, team work and inter-team collaboration.

Human Resource Management: Functions In order to achieve the above objectives, Human Resource Management undertakes the following activities: 1. Human resource or manpower planning. 2. Recruitment, selection and placement of personnel. 3. Training and development of employees. 4. Appraisal of performance of employees. 5. Taking corrective steps such as transfer from one job to another. 6. Remuneration of employees. 7. Social security and welfare of employees. 8. Setting general and specific management policy for organizational relationship. 9. Collective bargaining, contract negotiation and grievance handling. 10. Staffing the organization. 11. Aiding in the self-development of employees at all levels. 12. Developing and maintaining motivation for workers by providing incentives. 13. Reviewing and auditing manpower management in the organization 14. Potential Appraisal. Feedback Counseling. 15. Role Analysis for job occupants. 16. Job Rotation. 17. Quality Circle, Organization development and Quality of Working Life. Human Resource Management: Major Influencing Factors In the 21st century HRM will be influenced by following factors, which will work as various issues affecting its strategy: Size of the workforce. Rising employees' expectations Drastic changes in the technology as well as Life-style changes. Composition of workforce. New skills required. Environmental challenges. Lean and mean organizations. Impact of new economic policy. Political ideology of the Government. Downsizing and rightsizing of the organizations. Culture prevailing in the organization etc. Human Resource Management: Futuristic Vision On the basis of the various issues and challenges the following suggestions will be of much help to the philosophy of HRM with regard to its futuristic vision: 1. There should be a properly defined recruitment policy in the organization that should give its focus on professional aspect and merit based selection. 2. In every decision-making process there should be given proper weightage to the aspect that employees are involved wherever possible. It will ultimately lead to sense of team spirit, teamwork and inter-team collaboration. 3. Opportunity and comprehensive framework should be provided for full expression of employees' talents and manifest potentialities. 4. Networking skills of the organizations should be developed internally and externally as well as horizontally and vertically.

5. For performance appraisal of the employees emphasis should be given to 360 degree feedback which is based on the review by superiors, peers, subordinates as well as self-review. 6. 360 degree feedback will further lead to increased focus on customer services, creating of highly involved workforce, decreased hierarchies, avoiding discrimination and biases and identifying performance threshold. 7. More emphasis should be given to Total Quality Management. TQM will cover all employees at all levels; it will conform to customer's needs and expectations; it will ensure effective utilization of resources and will lead towards continuous improvement in all spheres and activities of the organization. 8. There should be focus on job rotation so that vision and knowledge of the employees are broadened as well as potentialities of the employees are increased for future job prospects. 9. For proper utilization of manpower in the organization the concept of six sigma of improving productivity should be intermingled in the HRM strategy. 10. The capacities of the employees should be assessed through potential appraisal for performing new roles and responsibilities. It should not be confined to organizational aspects only but the environmental changes of political, economic and social considerations should also be taken into account. 11. The career of the employees should be planned in such a way that individualizing process and socializing process come together for fusion process and career planning should constitute the part of human resource planning. To conclude Human Resource Management should be linked with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational cultures that foster innovation and flexibility

How does HRM fit in the business life cycle? There is now an established literature in the field of HRM that highlights how possible contingent variables determine the HRM systems of an organization. One among the long list of such variables is the life cycle stage of an organisation: introduction (start-up); growth (development); maturity; decline; and turnaround. Research findings reveal a clear association between a given life cycle stage and specific HRM policies and practices. For example, it is logical for firms in their introductory and growth life cycle stages to emphasise a rationalised approach to recruitment in order to acquired best-fit human resources, compensate employees at the going market rate, and actively pursue employee development strategies. Similarly, organisations in the maturity stage are known to recruit enough people to allow for labour turnover/ lay-offs and to create new opportunities in order to remain creative to maintain their market position. Such organisations emphasise flexibility via their training and development programmes and pay employees as per the market leaders in a controlled way. Accordingly firms

in the decline stage will be likely to minimise costs by reducing overheads and aspire to maintain harmonious employee relations (for more details see Kochan and Barocci, 1985; Baird and Meshoulam 1988; Hendry and Pettigrew 1992; Jackson and Schuler 1995; Boxall and Purcell, 2003).

Typology of business strategies and HRM Miles and Snow (1978; 1984) classify organisations as prospectors (who are doing well and are regularly looking for more products and market opportunities), defenders (who have a limited and stable product domain), analyzers (who have some degree of stability but are on the lookout for possible opportunities) and reactors (who mainly respond to market conditions). These generic strategies dictate organisations HRM policies and practices. For example, defenders are less concerned about recruiting new employees externally and are more concerned about developing current employees. In contrast, prospectors are growing, so they are concerned about recruiting and using performance appraisal results for evaluation rather than for longerterm development (for details see Jackson and Schuler 1995; MacDuffie 1995).

Generic HR strategies Identifying the need to highlight the prevalence of generic HR strategies pursued by organisations in different contexts, Budhwar and Sparrow (2002) propose four HR strategies. These are: talent acquisition HR strategy (emphasises attracting the best human talent from external sources); effective resource allocation HR strategy (maximises the use of existing human resources by always having the right person in the right place at the right time); talent improvement HR strategy (maximes the talents of existing employees by continuously training them and guiding them in their jobs and career); and cost reduction HR strategy (reduces personnel costs to the lowest possible level).

Budhwar and Khatri (2001) examined the impact of these HR strategies on recruitment, compensation, training and development and employee communication practices in matched Indian and British firms. The impact of these four HR strategies varied significantly in the two samples, confirming the context specific nature of HRM. On the same pattern, there is a need to identify and examine the impact of other HR strategies such as high commitment, paternalism, etc. Such HR issues, which have a significant impact on a firms performance, are further examined.

Which modules does HRM talk to?

One of the factors behind organizations giving a lot of attention to their people is the nature of the firms in the current business environment. Given the fact that there has been a steady movement towards an economy based on services, it becomes important for firms engaged in the service sector to keep their employees motivated and productive. Even in the manufacturing and the traditional sectors, the need to remain competitive has meant that firms in these sectors deploy strategies that make effective use of their resources. This changed business landscape has come about as a result of a paradigm shift in the way businesses and firms view their employees as more than just resources and instead adopt a people first approach. The practice of HRM must be viewed through the prism of overall strategic goals for the organization instead of a standalone tint that takes a unit based or a micro approach. The idea here is to adopt a holistic perspective towards HRM that ensures that there are no piecemeal strategies and the HRM policy enmeshes itself fully with those of the organizational goals. For instance, if the training needs of the employees are simply met with perfunctory trainings on omnibus topics, the firm stands to lose not only from the time that the employees spend in training but also a loss of direction. Hence, the organization that takes its HRM policies seriously will ensure that training is based on focused and topical methods.

In conclusion, the practice of HRM needs to be integrated with the overall strategy to ensure effective use of people and provide better returns to the organizations in terms of ROI (Return on Investment) for every rupee or dollar spent on them. Unless the HRM practice is designed in this

way, the firms stand to lose from not utilizing people fully. And this does not bode well for the success of the organization.

What is the data that is interfaced? Department Managers Personnel Module is a comprehensive human resources management system. It provides both general and financial information about faculty and staff employees, as well as students, post docs, temporaries, residents, and volunteers as required for the day-to-day operations of a departmental business office. This module is often used with Department Managers Accounting Module for projecting future salary and benefit costs and with the Grant and Space Modules for generating comprehensive faculty profiles and reports for faculty evaluation. The Personnel module includes information such as:

Total salary and salary distributions Fringe benefit packages for individual and groups of employees Demographic data such as date of birth, gender, race, marital status, VISA, veteran, handicap, and several user-definable codes Home and office addresses for mailing labels and department directories Rank, Title, and tenure information for faculty with joint appointments in multiple departments Work performance review, leave, education, effort (for tracking RVUs), and certification Committees and who serves on them Position numbers and a position control system for managing position budgets at state supported institutions

What is the corresponding module in SAP? SAP HR or SAP Human Capital Management (HCM) is one of the largest modules in the SAP R/3 system which consists of many submodules like Serial Number SAP HR Sub Modules 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 Organizational Management Personnel Administration Recruitment Time Management ( automatically maintained by sap) Payroll Benefits Compensation Management Personnel Cost Planning Budget Management Personnel Development Training & Event Management Travel Management Environmental Health & Safety

Many of these sub modules are further sub divided into many components for eg Time Management is further divided into Time Administration, Shift Planning, Incentive Wages and Time Sheet. Environment Health & Safety is further divided into Occupational Health & Industrial Hygiene & Safety. With the advent of mySAP, SAP HR was then called mySAP HR. What got added with "mySAP" (mark this word) was the web services like ESS (Employee Self-Service) and the MSS (Manager's Self Service) which gave empowerment to the employees and managers - employees to better manage their own data and managers to better manage their own departments/divisions. This became the turning point for SAP HR to shift from being a data repository to a strategic tool where the HR departments now focused more of strategic tasks than administrative ones which were now offloaded to the employees and managers using these self services. Looking back at the earlier days, when the HR Head required a headcount report from all his divisions, it would mean asking for each division to provide data and than receiving this data at the HR Headquarters. Compiling the same and providing it to the management could possibly take a few days to maybe weeks where the data accuracy could be questioned, data could be redundant etc. This was due to the fact that the HR data would be sitting across in different systems in different locations and the IT practices being followed differently (if not HR) at these different locations.If one could not get an accurate HR report one could wonder trying to get

information of HR integrated to other functions like Logistics etc would have made life so difficult for an HR consultant. With the advent of SAP , and the SAP HR module , all the HR information for an organization/company got collated at one place in a very structured manner.To find a specific information for an employee (one who is on the payroll of the organization) or applicant(one who intend to be on the payroll of an organization), all one needed to do is use a transaction like "PA20" which is Display HR master data( note this is so important because this is the basis of an SAP system ie it is a transactional system) and enter the 4 digit infotype number to view an infotype. To see the address of an employee use the transaction "PA20" and go the Display HR master data screen, enter the unique 8 digit employee number (this is the primary key to all employee information ), type infotype 0006for that employee and see the current information or history (using the list view)stored there. Infotypes are also called information types and are pre-defined templates to enter sensible related information for an employee or applicant. for eg an address infotype would have fields like street & house no, city, pin code.This infotype is unique and is represented by an infotype number eg address has infotype no 0006. Some of the important infotypes are :Infotype Number Important Infotypes 0000 0001 0002 0003 0006 0007 0008 0009 0014 0015 0016 Actions(to capture hire to retire information) Organizational Assignment(capture employee's positions) Personal Data Payroll Status ( automatically maintained by sap) Address Planned Working Time(Store planned working hours) Basic Pay Bank Details Recurring Payments/Deductions(periodic) Additional Payments/Deductions(one time) Contract Elements

0041 2001 2002 2005 2006 2007 0416

Date Specifications Absences Attendances Overtime Absence Quotas Attendance Quotas Quota Compensation

The above infotypes together in the same sequence form a part of the Hiring Action.To make you understand this better just try and recollect the contents of your offer letter which your organization might I hope this gives you some idea of what an infotype is. This must have raised a question in many minds that "Hey ! I got the offer during my recruitment so how come this is being referred to after hiring?" Well thats simple - this is because all your relevant data that was captured during recruitment was transferred to the the master (called HR master data)during the hiring process. So how was it captured in recruitment? Well, this was captured using recruitment actions like shortlist candidate, for interview, make offer, offer accepted till you join the organization and sign the joining letter when your data actually gets transferred from the Recruitment module to the Personnel Administration module.Again this data was captured in recruitment infotypes. So we can now get an idea that in SAP HR ,all data is captured in infotypes. INFOTYPES CATEGORISED 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Infotype 0000-0999 - Personal Administration Infotype 1000-1999 - PD objects (for OM) Infotype 2000-2999 - Time Management Infotype 4000-4999 - Recruitment Infotype 9000-9999 - For Custom Development If you closely observe that many of the recruitment infotypes are clones of personnel administration infotypes.I hope this gives you some idea of what an infotype is. Lets look at what

we mean by subtypes. A subtype is sub-categorization of an infotype. Not all infotypes are subcategorized and hence only some required infotypes would have subtypes. Lets take the case of Address Infotype (IT 0006). Now we would like to use the same screen template to store different types of addresses like permanent,Temporary, Office etc.This is because we would be capturing the same type of information which would require the same fields like Street No, City, Country, Pin Code etc to capture different address types information.SAP handles this by using subtypes for the Address Infotype (IT 0006). So to store any Address Information we would need to specify both the infotype and subtype. Certain other infotypes with subtypes are Dependents (0021), ID Data (0185) etc. DATA AND AUTHORIZATIONS When it comes to data these are the things that we can do to it 1. Create data ( in sap hr we do this by creating new records ) 2. View data ( by viewing the records created) 3. Maintain data ( by changing/deleting records) To be able to do one or three of the above , the sap hr user needs to be authorized to do so . This is a part of data security handled by sap using what is known as authorizations. Authorizations in sap hr are handled through roles ( such as payroll administrator, training administrator , time administrator where these roles are given create/maintain/view authorizations for combination of hr objects/hr infotypes& subtypes /hr transactions/hr reports/hr clusters)called role based authorizations or a combination of role based authorizations and the hr structures (like organization structure, training calendar etc) called structural authorizations. These roles and structural authorizations are assigned to the sap hr user based on his job profile.Data security is the key andits important to know that you would see,create and maintain data based purely on the tasks you perform in your organization as a sap user.So do not get upset if your colleague can see more than you and does not divulge information as the authorizations would be based on his/her job profile and remember that company confidentiality & professional ethics are the most important qualification for any sap user. Coming back to authorizations (this is for the configurators) , I mentioned earlier that authorizations can be purely role based or a combination of role based and structural authorizations . Lot of hr consultants state thatwe do not need structural authorizations as we can use theorganizational key ( a field used for authorizations available only in IT 0001Organizational Assignment).However, one must clearly note that further authorizations using role based authorizations can be provided by using organizational key field and that the organization key does not replace the hr structures ORGANIZATONAL KEY IN AUTHORIZATIONS The organizational key is a 14 character code which is restricted to a combination of certain fields of the organizational assignment infotype -0001 like organization unit, personal area, personal sub-area, etc. Organization unit is a part of IT0001 and it is often used as a part of the

organization key. For most organizations, the organization key suffices. However, when complex authorization requirements arise than organizations with sap hr opt for structural authorizations. If you want an employee to have authorizations to certain employee data of 5 sub-ordinate organization units you would probably have to maintain all the five organizational keys in the role assigned to the employee which means more maintenance. This increases authorization role maintenance and authorization errors ( if there is data inconsistency),which is realized by organizations who are implementing or in a process of implementing structural authorizations. If you want to restrict the sap hr user access on the basis of training calendar or other hr structures then you would need to use structural authorizations and cannot use role based authorizations unless you do some custom development( which is not recommended, when you have standard sap meeting your requirements). I would give full credit to SAP for having understood that many organizations deviate from the normal practices and have their own specific practices for which wherever appropriate,Business Add-Ins also known as BADIs have been provided to handle such scenarios. For more detailed information and whenever in doubt, always refer to your experienced sap hr colleagues for guidance and help. Refer to appropriate sap documentation provided by sap or its authorized education partners/vendors such as for ex. [1]. Please note that this wiki is purely a discussion and not an education guide or a for formal sap hr training. The assumption here is that all reading this wiki are young sap hr consultants who are looking for advice or a forum to share their skills and knowledge. TRANSITION OF DATA TO INTELLIGENT DATA Coming back to the discussion on data ( i would be visiting this time and again) one needs to understand the transition of data with the advent and advancement of information technology.Data started as drawings during stone age times , then came the paper and we have text,numbers and language and with computers we had the database systems storing data in structured format or we can call it structured data. With the erp systems such as sap we advanced to Logical data and with the Business Warehouse we further advanced to strategic data. Then came business intelligence and we are now in a quest for intelligent data.Its important to note the transition of data from need driven to business driven and a continuous quest to improve data.Companies who spend and invest in IT need to move with times and SAP has really helped countless organizations achieve this transition. Companies are realizing that good IT systems means enhanced business returns, staying above competition and opportunities for growth. Of course for this we need Human Resources ( i still do not like the word human capital , i would prefer it to be called Human Talent)

LOGICAL DATABASES For every sap hr consultant it is important to understand HR logical databases in sap hr. A layer above the physical database lies the hr logical databases called PNP, PCH and PAP. Logical databases contain data tables from sub-modules of sap hr. depends on specification of object type Logical Database Infotypes PNP PAP PCH Logical Area

0000-0999, 2000 to 2999 HR Master Data & Time 4000-4999 Recruitment Infotypes of specified object type else all infotypes

Note : You should know when to choose between the PNP and the PCH logical databases when building your report or query and the key is whether you want the primary key for selection to be the personnel number or the object type.If the primary key is to be the PERNR (personnel number) then you should select the PNP logical database and if you want it to be any object type like O org unit, S- position, C- job ,L- Business Event Group, D- Business Event Type EBusiness Event.etc, then you should select the PCH logical database. And PAP when the primary key must be the applicant number This means if you want to query by employee the business events attended, you choose PNP, and if you want to know for certain specific business events who are the attendees, you choose PCH logical database to build your query,program or reports.To conclude,we can say that to build an sap hr query ,user & standard sap programs or reports the preferred option and sap standard too, we use logical databases. I have used the word preferred and not the only option because querying also allows you to directly reference the physical tables without using logical databases but this is never recommended by sap due to problems that it creates in hr authorizations and would overlook error handling provided by sap for the infotypes. All sap hr queries, programs & reports should use the logical databases.Hence if an sap user does not have authorizations for that object or infotype which the program, query or report references, then it would throw an error for the user.Please refer to the exhaustive sap help documentation for more information on sap hr logical databases, infosets , reporting and querying.

UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS Deviating from the question and answers, I would like to highlight a story from the Indian mythology. A teacher teaching his student archers asked them all to shoot an arrow at a clay bird perched on the top of a tree and hit the eye of the bird. All the archers shot at the bird but only one of them managed to hit the eye of the bird. When the teacher asked all the student archers what did they see when they shot the clay bird,some said they saw the bird on a tree,some said they saw the bird perched on the branch. The archer who shot the eye of the bird was quiet. When he was asked by the teacher as to what he saw , prompt came his reply I saw the eye of the bird.What I am trying to highlight here is that it is very important for an SAP HR consultant to understand what the customer requirements are and be focused on those requirements only. PROJECT SCOPING All projects are time defined based upon agreed business requirements. Delivering what has been agreed upon is what the consultants need to focus upon. Do not try to deviate from what is defined unless agreed upon by the customer and the project team. Save the frills, fancies and anything extra for the enhancements.SAP projects cost a lot of money and the estimation is based on work to be done. A project's success depends on meeting the objectives, goals and requirements for what the project endeavor was carried out within the defined time lines. If the project deviates in cost, quality and time , it indicates that what was defined as required by the customer is not being met. Deviations to projects makes the project team loose motivation and interest, disturbs human resource planning for other projects when they are to be released from the existing projects and begin work on the other projects. In short it creates a chaos besides financial losses.Many of us are in consulting and we need to understand the bottom line- time is money. If your projects make profit, your company makes profit and you too profit. This should be your motto. So remember and drill this in your mind that requirements for an sap hr project are to meet the companys goals and objectives in initiating the project and clearly not what the sap hr user or even for that matter the sap configurator fancies or wants.The success of the sap hr project is only when the project sponsor states that it is a success.

Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resource_management http://expertscolumn.com/content/human-resource-management-nature-scope-objectives-andfunction http://www.bighead.co.th/Portals/47/BU2Public/How%20can%20HR%20Support%20Business%20strategy%20by%20K.Manoon%20SC G.pdf http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CD4QFjAC&u rl=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttp%2Fwww.cipd.co.uk%2FNR%2Frdonlyres%2FCD5EE14A-EF5C-46DABFCCA8634F63193F%2F0%2FSHRM_Chapter_01.doc&ei=n1VnT7XcOM2GrAfN8py9Bw&usg=A FQjCNHCtBWjA_93R7A8tUYfNZe0lYEc-w http://it.toolbox.com/wiki/index.php/SAP_HR_-_Check_your_basics-Answers-1